Zhuang Zhuang, the country’s first horse clone, was unveiled this Thursday in Beijing by the Sinogene laboratory.
A cloned horse, the first of its kind to be born and registered in China and expected to bring new perspectives to the country’s equestrian sector, was unveiled this Thursday, January 12 in Beijing.
The cloning of competition or high-line horses has been practiced in several countries since the early 2000s, particularly for genetic improvement. Born last June to a surrogate mother, “Zhuang Zhuang” (pronounced “Djouang Djouang”), developed by the Beijing laboratory Sinogene, is the clone of a horse imported from Germany. The world’s first cloned horse was born in Italy in 2003.
Lack of high performance horses
It is black in color and is the first “warm-blooded” horse born in China to be officially licensed by the Chinese Equestrian Industry Association. “Warmblood” is a classification that applies generally to breeds of light horses with a lively temperament.
Equestrian sport, especially show jumping, has developed in China in recent years. But the lack of high-performing horses and the lag in breeding improvement technology are limiting that growth. “I spoke to (Chinese) riders who compete in the Olympics. All have more than one horse, usually two or three. Each horse costs between a few million and 10 million yuan,” or up to more than around a million euros, Sinogene CEO Mi Jidong told AFP.
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Competition horses at a lower cost
“Cloning can help reduce the cost of breeding and raising horses.” The production of competition horses in China through cloning should make it possible to reduce our dependence on expensive horse imports and thus more easily meet the needs of the Chinese equestrian sector.
Chinese animal cloning companies have made significant strides in recent years, with technologies now mature for sheep, cows, pigs, dogs and even cats.
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